Computers are becoming increasingly powerful, lightweight, and portable. The computing power of computers that once filled entire rooms is now residing on a desktop. Portable (e.g., “laptop”) computers are virtually as powerful as their desktop counterparts. Even smaller hand-held computers are now capable of computing tasks that required much larger computing machines just a few short years ago.
As a result, the use of personal computers is widespread and is rapidly becoming even more prevalent. Due to continuing advances in technology that have enabled the size of personal computers to decrease, the use of portable computers, particularly laptop computers, is increasing at an ever greater and greater pace.
The portability of laptop computers enables a user to keep his or her computer readily accessible such that computing resources are effectively always at hand. By way of example, a wirelessly networked portable computer running on a battery pack enables a user to access computational resources without the need for external electricity sources and free of the need to connect to wired network links. Tasks can thus be performed conveniently, at will, at virtually any location desired.
Contemporary portable computers have a lid display section that pivots or rotates with respect to a base section of the computer. The lid moves between a closed position that places the lid against the base and an open position that exposes the display screen and various components, such as the computer keyboard.
The display section includes a display screen. The base section carries various components used for operating the portable computer. These components may typically include a keyboard, a track pad or other cursor positioning device, a central processing unit (“CPU”), a power supply, memory, a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, an optical disk drive (“ODD”), other data storage devices, network connection and interface devices, and so forth.
The network connection and interface devices may be, for example, connectors, ports, or wireless radio devices that enable the portable computer to communicate with external sources and with peripheral devices. Such external sources and peripheral devices may be, for example, a computer network, a printer, a serial device such as a mouse, a scanner, a docking station, and so forth. Connectors or ports may also enable the portable computer to interface with a power source or power supply.
Connectors and ports associated with a portable computer are often located on the sides or the rear of the base section. Occasionally, incidental access is also provided through the bottom of the portable computer, such as, for example, access to its batteries. Often, connectors and ports are covered by manually accessed doors to protect the connectors and ports, e.g., from damage while the portable computer is being transported.
In portable computers, traditional ODD modules are self-contained units having their own enclosures and their own electromagnetic interference (“EMI”) shielding. If mounted within the portable computer, the ODD modules are mounted along one side or perimeter edge thereof (typically the left, front, or right side edge). Access for inserting and removing a disk (such as a compact disk (“CD”) or a digital versatile disk (“DVD”)) is then commonly provided through the adjacent side of the portable computer housing (so-called “sidewall access” or “side-access”).
As portable computers have become thinner and thinner, such placement of the ODD is becoming increasingly problematic. For example, the available area on the perimeter edge surfaces of the base of the computer housing (available “real estate”) diminishes as the thickness of the portable computer diminishes. Such real estate consequently becomes increasingly valuable as other services compete for use of the same diminishing resources.
Another problematical factor with such ODD configurations can be the geometry of the ODD, which typically includes an extended “wing” along one side or edge thereof. The wing is a thin protuberance for accommodating the full size of a disk. The wing is necessary because the disk drive motor and optical disk reading element (collectively the optical pick-up unit (“OPU”)), which are located beneath the disk, are smaller in lateral extent than a disk itself. Therefore, the lower portion of the ODD, in which the OPU is housed, usually has a smaller lateral dimension than the upper portion in which the disk is accommodated. This results in an extended wing on the upper portion of the ODD.
The space or volume beneath the wing and adjacent the lower portion of the ODD housing (i.e., adjacent the narrower lateral extent, or dimension, of the OPU) commonly represents a wasted space or volume within the portable computer. Oftentimes that volume is inconveniently located within the portable computer such that only a portion thereof (and sometimes none) can be utilized for other purposes. Since the overall lateral dimensions of current portable computers are often defined by the computer display, any unused or under-utilized volume within the portable computer housing typically translates undesirably into increased thickness for the computer housing.
Another important consideration is the user interface, and the convenience afforded to the user of the portable computer when inserting and removing a disk from the ODD. Users have become accustomed to convenient access to the ODD through the real estate along the side edges of the portable computer housing. Any reconfiguration, therefore, of the user interface for the ODD must take into account user expectations, efficiency, and convenience. It must not be unintuitive or counter-intuitive.
Thus, a need still remains for better and more efficient systems for configuring and arranging disk drives in conjunction with other internal components in portable computers. In view of the ever increasing commercial competitive pressures, increasing consumer expectations, and diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. Moreover, the ever-increasing need to save costs and improve efficiencies adds even greater urgency to the necessity that answers be found to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.